The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has opened the beta phase of its Sandbox, a new service designed to support organisations using personal data to develop products and services that are innovative and have demonstrable public benefit. The beta phase of the Sandbox, which is now open to applications, will enable participants to work through how they use personal data in their projects with the ICO’s specialist staff to help ensure they comply with data protection rules. The Sandbox will also provide some comfort from enforcement action and, where feasible, increased…
Month: March 2019
ICO fines Kent pensions company for sending nearly 2 million spam emails
A Kent pensions company which relied on ‘misleading’ professional advice has been fined £40,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office for being responsible for sending nearly two million direct marketing emails without consent. An ICO investigation found that Grove Pension Solutions Ltd of London Road, Halstead, Sevenoaks, Kent was responsible for 1,942,010 emails promoting its services. The emails were sent between 31 October 2016 and 31 October 2017. The ICO found that Grove Pensions Solutions Ltd had instructed a marketing agent to use third party email providers to carry out hosted marketing…
Tokyo Court Orders Bankruptcy Trustee to Begin Mt. Gox Liquidation Process
Tokyo Court ordered liquidation of bitcoin exchange Mt Gox after the firm collapsed in February. Tokyo bitcoin exchange Mt Gox is set to be liquidated after a Japanese court issued an order to start bankruptcy proceedings, said the company on Thursday. Mt Gox, the largest bitcoin exchange in the world, filed for bankruptcy on February 28 after it had lost 850,000 coins estimated at about USD 500 million. Moreover, the sum of USD 27 million was stolen from its banks accounts. The company filed for protection in the US in…
ICO fines Vote Leave £40,000 for sending unlawful text messages
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined Vote Leave Limited £40,000 for sending out thousands of unsolicited text messages in the run up to the 2016 EU referendum. An ICO investigation found that Vote Leave sent 196,154 text messages promoting the aims of the Leave campaign with the majority containing a link to its website. The investigation also found that Vote Leave was unable to provide evidence that the people who received the messages had given their consent; a key requirement of electronic marketing law. ICO Director of Investigations, Steve…
Two Birmingham workers fined for data protection breaches
Employees could face a criminal prosecution if they access or share personal data without a valid reason, the Information Commissioner’s Office has warned. The warning came after Birmingham Magistrates’ Court fined two workers in separate cases for breaching data protection laws. Faye Caughey, 32, of Ringswood Road, Solihull was employed at the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust (HEFT) when she unlawfully accessed the personal records of 14 individuals between February 2017 and August 2017. The Court heard that as part of her job, Ms Caughey was authorised to access…
Vitalik Buterin: Ethereum is a Smartphone While Bitcoin is a Calculator
As Ethereum rocketed up to nearly 1, 400 dollars in the same December period – when Bitcoin reached a peak of more than 20, 000 dollars, it is considered a valuable store. For it’s creator, Vitalik Buterin, his project holds many advantages over Bitcoin, and he proudly illustrated with simple words why his “second generation blockchain” has enough merits to be the most important altcoin in the global market. If it’s to believe ConsenSys, the Alliance of Ethereum, smart contracts and ICOs – Ethereum is performing better than Bitcoin. Buterin:…